Crete
by SleepWriting
Summary: Grandpa Higurashi drags the family through historical sites during their stay in Greece. And Kagome ends up in a maze, at the center of which lies an unusual being. Product of his royal mother's unnatural lust, he was hid away in shame. Kagome x Minotaur


The first time they had met, Kagome was still new to her shard hunting quest. She didn`t really know what was going on, or how to handle the situation. And he was still young.

o-o_o-o_o

She and Inuyasha had been traveling around the Feudal era for some time and when she had returned home to find her mother announcing that the family was to go on a 2 week vacation to Greece, Kagome climbed straight back into the well to plead and 'sit' the half-demon until he relented to let her have her two-weeks of time with her family on the condition that her next trip back to the Feudal times would last twice as long as usual.

o-o_o-o_o

When the plane landed in Athens, she climbed off with a bounce in her step and a flush of excitement coloring her cheeks. This was her first time in Greece and she couldn't wait to see the sights it offered and the people it held.

They visited old monasteries, museums, historical sites, nature settings, all of which her grandfather studied with intensity and raved about even more intensely. Sometimes, the poor tour guides were at an obvious loss with how to deal with such an agitated old man who shouted in their faces in a language they couldn't understand. At other times, the elder Higurashi would manage to pull the older and more knowledgeable guides into long, dreary conversations revolving around trivial historical facts or the alleged accuracy of a claim. Of these long discussions, either Souta or Kagome would have to act as translators with their basic grasp of English. To say that it was tedious was an understatement.

One such long exchange, littered with misunderstandings, hand gestures and a lot of excited shouting from her grandfather, managed to convince the old patriarch that their visit could never be complete without a taste Crete.

o-o_o-o_o

And so Kagome found herself on the small island of Crete during their 10th day in Greece. It was a beautiful country, but she was starting to miss her mother's cooking, or even the simple meals she shared with Inuyasha on their wanderings.

Of course, as soon as they arrived in Crete, grandfather insisted on visiting Knossos, which seemed to be known as the most archeologically heavy site of the island. Kagome and Souta sighed and grumbled, but their mother just smiled and declared it to be an excellent idea, which decided that.

As they explored the remains of what had once surely been a great palace, both siblings quickly ambled away from the adults, eager to avoid another painful translating session.

Kagome walked off to observe the details of a wall carving, while Souta ran towards an area he deemed safe from the eyes of overly enthusiastic old geezers.

o-o_o-o_o

Minutes later, as Kagome strolled aimlessly, she felt a sudden pulse below her collar bone, where the jewel shards lay. She quickly tugged them out of her thin summer t-shirt for inspection, only to realise that they were glowing blindingly bright. She reflexively shut her eyes to the powerful light and opened them to find herself in the dark.

It took some few moments for her pupils to adjust to the change. Her heart pounded terribly as she waited; her urgency for the return of her vision amplified by the slight echoing sounds that reached her ears. Wherever she was right now, she did not wish to meet anyone or anything dangerous while her primary sense was down. Trying to keep her panicked breathing as steady and silent as possible she anxiously counted the seconds in her head.

Slowly, faint outlines began to etch themselves into view. Texture crept back into the surrounding objects. And colors reasserted themselves into her world.

She found herself in a stone hallway of sorts. A few dim rays originating from the small flickering candles were all that permitted for her to see. She tiptoed her way forward, following the lines of the wall.

After perhaps half an hour or so of tiptoeing around, she finally realized that she was in a ginormous maze. Where the hell was she?

The distorted sounds of movements not her own came again. It was hard to tell where they came from since the sound waves would bounce off the walls and disperse in all directions. They kept her on edge and urged her to keep moving along slowly.

But adrenaline could only last so long, and her toes were getting tired from the tiptoeing. Weariness came to replace her earlier tension as she shuffled aimlessly through the winding hallways leading her to nowhere.

When her shoulders started slumping and her body relaxed from the long absence of danger, she heard what sounded like a gargle, followed by what sounded like a soft snort or perhaps a raspberry being blown. It seemed to come from close by. She tensed once more, but headed cautiously towards the noise's origin.

When she finally reached it, what she discovered was a very anomalous creature. Its head was obviously still too big for its body as the weight of it caused the creature to wobble from side to side as it tried to crawl across the dried grass that seemed to make up its bed. A short tender arm moved jerkily as it was lifted and placed it forwards, along with a pudgy leg, before the task was to be repeated by the other set of limbs. It looked like a human baby, if not for the calf head that sit atop its human shoulders and neck.

Perhaps she wasn't as hidden as she had thought herself to be, or perhaps the calf's ears were sharper than her own, despite its young age, but it appeared to have detected her presence and was clumsily crawling her way.

Though it looked weird, she had seen much weirder ever since that faithful jump down the old well behind their family shrine. And she couldn't deny that it looked adorable with its big brown, almost glossy, eyes that shone in the dimness of the maze. Its gaze was frank and direct, filled with open curiosity. She stepped forward slowly, not wanting to alarm it. Kagome extended a hand in its reach and it grabbed it unceremoniously, cooing with its success before toppling over from having lost one of its supporting limbs.

The teenager quickly caught it before it could bump its head on the rough, hay-strewn floor. It cooed again and relinquished its hold on her finger in favor of grabbing a strand of her hair.

Kagome wrapped her arms more firmly around the little bundle as she carried it to the center of what looked like a small room in the center of the maze that seemed to act as a crossroad.

"What are you doing here?" She asked it gently. But it was too occupied twisting that strand of her hair around to answer her question. "Where's your mother?"

It rubbed its nosed against her front and grabbed a handful of her shirt to chew on. "No! No!" She quickly exclaimed, waggling her index finger in disapproval, "No biting my shirt!"

It chewed on heedless. She tried to tug it out, but it seemed to be stronger than it appeared. Quickly rummaging through her pockets, she pulled out a chocolate bar. The wrapper crinkled and shone in the low light, catching the little one's attention. "Do woo want the yummy wummy chocolate bar?" She asked in her best baby voice, "Do woo?"

It promptly released her shirt and made a grab for the shiny new object, only to have it snatched away from its clumsy fingers. "You have to unwrap it first." The girl explained as she showed the small baby/calf how it was before breaking off a piece and handing it to the child. It seemed to known that the chocolate was food and promptly stuffed it into its mouth.

"What should I call you?" Kagome asked as she watched him eat. And it was a him, she had checked under his small loin cloth. "Do you have a name? How about 'Calf'? I think it's rather fitting. What do you think."

Calf slurped his assent before greedily licking his chocolate covered fingers.

"Ok then, Calf. Do you know how to get out of here? No, I guess not. What about your parents? Do they know where you are? You do seem to have a bed of sorts. Did your mama leave you here? Will she be coming back? Well I hope so, Calf. For both yours and my sake, I really hope so. What do you think, Calf, is anyone ever going to find us and lead us out of here?"

Calf tossed the empty wrapper in the air and rolled onto his back in order to better play with his toes. Kagome sighed, "Alright then, we'll do it your way and wait a while longer. You seem well fed, I'm sure someone is must be taking care of you."

o-o_o-o_o

And so Kagome passed the time by playing around with the small baby/calf/creature. He vaguely reminded her of Souta when her brother had been of the same age. Calf especially enjoyed being tossed in air and caught, a game that made him giggle. It was weird, hearing such a human sound coming from something with a cow's head, but Kagome figured that although the head was animal, the neck was still human, and so, Calf's vocal chords should still be a faithful copy of the homosapien's.

She couldn't really tell how much time had passed, but it must have been about supper time now, since her stomach was grumbling rather loudly. Calf didn't seem to mind his hunger too much, never crying once, even though he kept on finding opportunities to chew her shirt, which was now a slobbering mess.

o-o_o-o_o

A loud clatter boomed through the maze, shattering their companionable peace. This was followed by loud steps. Kagome couldn't tell where they were coming from, but Calf seemed to recognize the noise as he clapped his chubby hands together and seemed to jump on his bum, his gaze directed unerringly towards a specific passage in the maze. Kagome quickly darted away from the central area and hid herself within the shadows opposite to Calf's intent stare. This resulted in a small whine from the child, but he otherwise ignored her retreat. As the steps got closer, and closer, Calf grew stiller and Kagome grew more nervous.

The baited waiting ended when a beautiful woman, dressed in delicately embroidered silks appeared. Her hair glistened under the candle-light as she brushed it aside elegantly. She had a high brow, a chiseled face, with delicate rosebud lips. Her figure was full, soft and womanly, though the large and plumpness of her breasts suggested that she might currently be breast feeding. Calf made no movement but neither did he seem frightened. What did this mean?

"_Asterion_," the lady called out softly. "_Come to your mother._" And Calf starte crawling slowly towards her in his wobbly, jerky way. The woman sat down upon the floor, brushed part of her attire away and brought forth a pale, round breast. Calf crawled into her lap carefully, sitting quiescent, until the lady cradle his head and adjusted him so that he could suckle at her nipple comfortably. After some time, the woman said, "_Enough_." Calf immediately let go. She tucked her breast back in, adjusted herself, and slipped the other one out. Again, the process repeated itself, until she again said, "_Enough."_

This time, Calf calmly crawled off and sat down quietly in the center of the room. The woman stood up gracefully _"I shall come back again tomorrow morning, Asterion. Be good until then._" She bent down and petted his head before leaving the way she came.

That was when Kagome noticed the roll of thread in the lady's hand as she slowly wound it back together, following the trail of thread back to whence she came from. The sound of her steps faded, another clatter was heard, followed by the sound of a door slamming shut.

Calf burped happily and cooed as he crawled towards her, finally acknowledging her presence again. Kagome stepped back into the circular space. "Was that your mother?" She asked, it had looked like it though she couldn't be certain.

Calf burped again, trying to reach for her shirt. She scooted down.

Kagome hadn't understood a single thing the lady had said. At a guess, the woman was probably speaking in Greek. However there had been one word that had seemed to hold more meaning than the others... "Asterion."

Calf's gaze swivel straight towards her when she pronounced the foreign word. "So that's your name." Asterion grabbed another lock of her hair and burped again. Kagome huffed. "Well whoever she is, she didn't even take the time to burp you properly."

Kagome picked the small child up, rested his head against her shoulder and started patting his back gently. Humming, a soft tune as she patted, she quickly found herself with a sleeping baby and a loud, grumbling stomach. Asterion's hunger pangs might have been sated by whoever that woman was, but Kagome's were still present. She gently laid the sleeping baby down beside her before rubbing her stomach worriedly and decided it was time to call it a night ( at least she assumed it was night, since there was no natural light where she was currently located). She spent some time pondering on the unnaturally long life of the weak little candles that illuminated the area, then she glanced at the calf/baby lying beside her and at the Shikon shards dangling from her neck. She finally decided, right before slipping into sleep, not to question things too much or to look a gift horse in the mouth.

o-o_o-o_o

The next "morning", she awoke to Asterion licking her face. "Mmmph!" was all she managed to get out before she pushed him away, but he was already staring at intently at the direction from which last night's lady had come. Not a moment later, clattering was heard and footsteps sounded.

Once again, Kagome darted away into the shadows.

This time, after having fed Asterion, the woman lingered longer. It looked as though she was spending her time trying to teach the small rotund thing how to speak, but although it had human vocal chords, its mouth was still bovine, which made articulation and human speech difficult. Even so, Asterion was diligent and kept trying as many times as the lady urged him. Kagome was impressed, she had never met such a disciplined baby.

Finally, the woman once again took her leave, following her trail of thread, and this time, Kagome crept along behind her. Asterion fixed his clear, innocent gaze upon her, but made no move or sound to give her away. Left, right, right, left, right, right, left, left, left, left, right, left, right, right, left, right… What was it again?

She watched the lady climb a set of ladders, before pulling it up and closing the trap door with a tud. Great, she needed a ladder to get out. And how was she supposed to get back to Asterion now? She had no clue where she was, and she couldn't leave the baby alone there, whatever it was. Maybe the shards had sent her here with the purpose of rescuing it. Although… Asterion didn't seem to be mistreated, though he was perhaps a bit neglected. But he was fed regularly, and the beautiful lady seemed to wish for his wellbeing, even though she kept herself emotionally distanced from him.

Kagome frowned as she tried to figure the puzzle out while walking haphazardly toward where she thought Asterion was situated. But before she could solve the mystery or reach the bovine toddler, the shards burnt against her skin, flashed her blind, and transported her away.

o-o_o-o_o

**A.N.**: My knowledge on mythology isn't extensive, though I've done some light research on the subject of this fic. Same goes for Inuyasha; I've read the entire series and watched bits of the anime, but that was a while back. I'll try to keep this story consistent with both originals, but I ain't guaranteeing nuthin'.

Am still undecided whether I should make the Minotaur a man-eating beast or not since it doesn't make sense: he is half-herbivore, half-human. Why did they decide to make him a cannibal? o_O But then again, it's mythology so I guess anything goes... right?

I love reviews that flatter me and compliment my stories (who doesn't), but those with lots of con' crit are the best. If you pick up any mistakes, plot inconsistencies, etc... Please tell me!


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